Semiwood wheel for motor trucks



E. KL BAKER. SEMIWOOD WHEEL FOR MOTOR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 3|. I919.

Patented, Nov. 14, 1922;

'2 SHEETS-SHEET .l.

E; K. BAKER. 2 S'EMIWOOD WHEEL FOR M OTOR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 31, I919.

Z. M 1 r MM. mm 6 .3 h 39 Y 414% a E 7 w/dP/K M 1 i O. 5m 3 v Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

chasm ERLE KING BAKER, or cH'roAeo, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO BAKERWHEEL & RIM COMPANY, or CHICAGO, rumors,- oonronnrron or ILLINoIs.

sEMIwoon W EEL FOR MOTOR T-BUC'KS.

Application .filed j'anuary 31, 1919. serial No. 274,325.

To allwhomz't may concern: Be it known that I, ERLE BAKER,& 1 citizen of the United States,'and"a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and Statefof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Semiwood Wheels for Motor Trucks, of which the following is a specification, r, W

My invention relates to improvements in automobile wheels and relates more particularly to wheels of a type adapted to the .carrying of great loads such as are n with in motor truck practice.- My invention s specially concerned with the production of a-solid rubber tire wheel; H

W hile' Wheels" of both metal andywood have been used in motor-truck practice 'it' is quite generally admitted that the. wooden w'heel'h'as' certain advantages that arenot to be found inYth'e all-'metalwheel. One

such desirable feature found in the wooden wheel is that of greater'resiliency and the consequent smaller transmission of destructive forces to the axle and other parts of the vehicle. Resiliency in a motor truck wheel is particularly necessary where the wheel is because of the excessive vibration which such tire entails especially when the vehicle is operated at high speed. V

The prevailing type, ofwooden 'wheelis' composed of a plurality of wooden "spokesradiating from a hub portion outwardly, H

the ends of the spokes being-reduced 'and tenoned in a heavy'woodenfelly. The wood- Q enfelly, heretofore necessary, must be'fmade of high-grade wood, such as is susceptible of being bent into an arc,constituting. a segment of the wheel. ,Notonly isfsuchfelly wood scarce, but-it is also quite diflicult to bend and shape andthe operation/of.

y the wheel.

making the wheel, as heretofore practiced, requires a workman having" a relatively "high degree of skill. i

In order to secure the requisite strength,

for motor trucks of large capacityy'the pra ctice has developed of reducing'the size} of' v This'reductionin the I size of the wheel, whileproviding greater rigidity necessarily has .a complementary disadvantage in that it destroys in a large measure, the highly desirable res lient fifiel l l i 9f the -relatively large the entire ,wheel.

wooden wheel: Resiliency is further miniother'factors do not prohibit such a design, "another difficulty is at once encountered, that is to ,say whereas, a short spoke composed of anjordinary grade of; woodlfu'rnishes the requisite strength. a long spoke would require a very high. grade of wood, somuch so that-it would have to be of selected stock which would add greatly tojthecmt ofthewheeli I v I A detaile'd object of the present invention is tofprovide a motor-truck wheel, and a method of 'manufacturingthe same, .which shall be adapted for'mountinga single solid tire as well as, a, so-called dual tire. cons'tructlon. i g l /iy i'iventlon'consists generally' n a v1110-.

tor-truck .wheel, and in the method of'producing the same, whereby the above named objects and purposes, together with a number ofothers that will appear hereinafter,

areattained and my inventionwillbe more consider "to be the preferred embodiment thereof, but which, it 3 should he un derstood, 5 8 5 is. by wayof illustration 'andnotby way of limitation, l

. ilnthe drawings Figure, 1 is a side.ele-

vation showing a' r wheel. embodying my insimilar to Fig. "lQbutshoWing thev rubber tire" in. plaee';-]Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 8 3 of, v2; Fig/ i isan enlarged fragmentary View o'f'a portion of the wheel a plurality of woodenqfspokes, 1, having ImiteredgendS Z, adapted to be tightly ventio n before the solid ;rubber1tire is mounted thereon Fig. 2 is a sideuelevation ioo served that the 'bodyof the jwheel comprises wedged together and, thereby, defining the hub hole'3. To the hub of the wooden part may be secured the metallic hub, 4, of usual construction, and shown only by dotted lines in the drawing. The metallic'hub, is provided with a flange, 5, on one side and upon the opposite side will be found a slip flange, 6. The metallic hub parts are rigidly secured toethe hub of the wheel, i. e., that portion formed by the mitered portions, 2, of the spokes by means of suitable bolts, 7, passing through holes, 8. I have de signedly provided a much larger number of spokes, 1, than is customary, for the pur pose of serving a number of highly important and desirable functions. By providing a relatively large number of spokes, 1, I am enabled to provide a relatively large wooden hub portion, such .as is indicated by the dottedcircle inFigs. 1 and 3 to which the letter H has been applied, and since the .strength of a wooden wheel is largely determined [by the Size of: the hub-portion, I have provided a wheel ot'suiiicient strength to be employed in even the heaviesttypes of truck wheels. I

As willbe observed, I have entirely eliminated the old form of wooden .telly with its ek'pensive, short-lived, increa ed tenoned connection with the spoke ends, andemploy onlya metal band, 9'. matter'of convenience, I shall term this banda spacing I-band. 'The spacing band isprovidedwith "a plurality ofsockets, 9, or" such a. shape as tightly to fit the ends of the wooden spokes. These sockets may be formed in various ways but they are preferably formed as an I integral part of the spacing band by'punching or formingthe metal inwardly at spaced points. provided and when the spoke end is forced thereinto it is firmly and securelyjheld in place. The socket being of metal obviously expands very little so that in use a tight joint is always maintained.

Upon the spacing band,'9, I tightly mount a band or rim, 10. This rim for convenience I shall refer to as a fixed rim. The form of this band may vary but I'prefer to .use what is known as an S. A. E. band for solid rubber tires. This band is substantially a cylindricalband made of a' size adapted to receive a standard size solid rubber tire and its containing rim.

' the .form and construction of this band is well known. it is thought theabovc descr ption will be sufficient. Y i

The fixed rim, 10, maybe mounted upon the spac ng band in various ways. "For eX- ample, it maybe shrunk upon the spacing band and thereby secured with sufiicient strength to .form a driving connection be- I tween the fixed rim and the spacing ba nd.

If desired the parts may ,be additionally segured as by means of rivets one ofwhichis indicated at 11 inFig. 5. So also the'fixed A relatively long socket is thus rim may be mounted by pressing the same transversely over the spacing band by heavy hydraulic pressure. In any event the fixed rim is tensioned'upon the spacing band and spoke ends thereby forming a structure of great strength and durability.

The spokes as shown are substantially square in cross section, and with spokes of this kind it is but necessary to miter the ends of the'various spokes, which in turn simplifies the production thereof. Such spokes can be sawed and planed from stock sized of material with standard sawing and planing machinery, and as easily .initered in like manner. The relatively slow and laborious method of turning down the outer ends of the spokes is thus eliminated.

I desire to call. attention to another function served b the large number of spokes, and that is, t at the fixed rim. in'being tensioned upon thespacing band and spokes is supported at such a'lar ge number of points that I am enabled to provide a finished wheel that istruly cylindrical and not polygonal. I amalSo enabled to sh'rinkthe band more firmlyupon the spoke ends, with out danger of distortion andthereby set the body of the wheel in sucha state of compression as will successfully defy any forces tending to loosen or separate the parts use. Obviously by dispensing with the telly,

there are fewer parts in the assembled wheel and hence fewer jointsthat caniloosen' in any event, and thevery parts whichv givethe most trouble in use, to-wit, the tenoned and the mortised wooden joints, are eliminated.

Dispensing with the wooden 'felly as I do, lam enabled to provide a'relatively-slarge fwoodenhub portion-in the wheel, such as will giye the requisite strength even for motor trucks'of large capacity. At the same time I providea projectin spoke oi'ia length sufficient to be actually resilient even where the wheel, as a WllQlG, is o f relatively small diameter. "lthus not only provide a strong, yet resilient wheel, but I also provide one in gyetbe of requisite strength, I

The wheel is now ready to receive the rubber tire; The rubber tire, 15,jis'mounted or embedded firmly in a metal rim, l 6, ot usual'orde'sired constructionand presents an inner cylindrical surface,fl7,,;.of a size adapt ed tightly to encompass the fixed rim upon which it may be v mounted in, -various ways. One suitable way is to press, the tirerim tr n e se y v r th 'fixe ri by m n heavy hydraulic brother ressure." "When Which the spoke portions projecting from thehubare not ,of unduef length and can, therefore, be made of ordinary wood and thus positioned a strong driving fit is established and the Wheel as a Whole is further strengthened; As shown in Fig. 6, my wheel is also Well adapted to the dual tire construction. Therein the ooden Wheel body may be producedand formed in the manner already described, except that Where necessary the parts may be enlarged. The fixed rim, 20, is secured upon the spacing band, 19, as be fore described but in this instance itisy'prefl. erably somewhat Widerto the end that it may form a suitable seat for the two solid:

tires, 21 and 22, and their'rims, 23 and 24:, respectively.

skilled in the art to which it out further comment.

i The generic invention and-a specific form filed January15, 1919. p I'claim:;@' I Asemi-Wood motor vehicle heerqmmand method'are presented and claimedv companion application Serial No. 127 15224; i v I prising a plurality of radial wooden spokes,

havin mutuallyfcoactive mitered butts'-, in combination vvitha spoke spacing and spoke holding metal-band tightly embracing the ends of the "spokes, .a fixed rim firm1y ten-' j;%:f

'sioned upon 'saidsp'acing band and the ends} j v of said Wooden spokes,and sealing. the 'endgrain of the Wooden spokes, and-anaenclles's metal rimcarryinga solicl rubber tire, and I exerting compressive tension/0mg "and/ The simple, durable, resilient and other throughout the circumference of'ysaid'fixed rim. y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set myhand this QSth-dayflof anuary,

- IERLE AKE1 if "I; f 

